New Developments September 2017

Is this a good time to talk about climate change? Experiencing extreme weather events can make people modestly more likely to support policy measures to help communities adapt to climate change. The effect on people’s attitudes is not only small but only lasts about a month. But the world measured in the study may no longer be the one we are living in. The researchers only looked at how the frequency of extreme weather affects attitudes, not the severity. Yet the most extreme weather events may affect people’s psychology over a longer period.

A Washable, Stretchable Solar Cell For Clothes and Awnings Engineers have made a new solar cell that works well even after being washed. The stretchable, water-resistant cells could be used to make clothes that can power wearable devices and sensors. They could also lead to power-generating awnings, shades, and tents. Thin, flexible solar cells made of organic polymers are less efficient, but are easy and cheap to manufacture. This has made them attractive for large-area, flexible devices, especially as scientists have in recent years improved their efficiency and longevity; organic solar cells can degrade when exposed to water and oxygen. They went from efficiencies of 2 percent in 2007 to over 8 percent in 2016.

New Developments August 2017

Where we start the clock for climate change makes a big difference Carbon emissions at the start of the Industrial Revolution are often unaccounted for but may have significant consequences, an analysis published last week in Nature Climate Change finds. According to the study, the small increase in temperature that may have resulted from these early emissions dramatically shrinks the global carbon budget – the amount of greenhouse gases that we can collectively produce in the future while still avoiding harmful increases in global average temperature. The problem is, just what “pre-industrial” means is often poorly defined. The most commonly used baseline is the period between 1850 and 1900. But the Industrial Revolution was already well underway by then. What if temperatures had already begun to increase? Analyses suggest that it’s possible that temperature hadn’t yet begun to increase in the late nineteenth century, making this a reasonable baseline period. But it’s equally plausible that human activities had already increased global average temperature by roughly 0.2 °C by then. If we manage to implement steep reductions in emissions, the choice of baseline period matters a lot. If 1850-1900 was already 0.2 °C warmer than a true pre-industrial baseline, then the chance of avoiding the 1.5 °C threshold drops from 40% to about 12% even with extreme emissions cuts. The chance of avoiding 2 °C drops from 75% to 70%.

How 139 countries could be powered by 100 percent wind, water, and solar energy by 2050  Such a transition could mean less worldwide energy consumption due to the efficiency of clean, renewable electricity; a net increase of over 24 million long-term jobs; an annual decrease in 4-7 million air pollution deaths per year; stabilization of energy prices; and annual savings of over $20 trillion in health and climate costs. The analyses specifically examined each country's electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, industrial, and agriculture/forestry/fishing sectors. Of the 139 countries -- selected because they were countries for which data were publically available from the International Energy Agency and collectively emit over 99% of all carbon dioxide worldwide -- the places the study showed that had a greater share of land per population (e.g., the United States, China, the European Union) are projected to have the easiest time making the transition to 100% wind, water, and solar. The most difficult places to transition may be highly populated, very small countries surrounded by lots of ocean, such as Singapore, which may require an investment in offshore solar to convert fully. The changes in infrastructure would also mean that countries wouldn't need to depend on one another for fossil fuels, reducing the frequency of international conflict over energy. The researchers intentionally exclude nuclear power because of its 10-19 years between planning and operation, its high cost, and the acknowledged meltdown, weapons proliferation, and waste risks. "Clean coal" and biofuels are neglected because they both cause heavy air pollution, which Jacobson and coworkers are trying to eliminate, and emit over 50 times more carbon per unit of energy than wind, water, or solar power.

New Developments July 2017

Japan’s Renewable-Energy Revolution Japan's approach to stewardship of its land and water resources is distinct from that of the U.S. As an island nation with a millennia-long history, the concepts of reuse, repurposing and multiple use are intrinsic to Japanese culture. In 2011, the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster caused Japan to reassess its dependence on nuclear power as a primary source of electricity generation. Building renewable-energy capacity, predominantly in the form of photovoltaic projects, is one answer in the nation's quest for alternatives. These images, from a series of flights over the Tokyo and Kobe/Osaka regions of Japan, show a range of photovoltaic projects on former golf courses, quarries, dams, man-made islands and floating projects on ponds and reservoirs.

Climate change damages US economy, increases inequality Unmitigated climate change will make the United States poorer and more unequal, according to a new study. The poorest third of counties could sustain economic damages costing as much as 20 percent of their income if warming proceeds unabated. States in the South and lower Midwest, which tend to be poor and hot already, will lose the most, with economic opportunity traveling northward and westward. Colder and richer counties along the northern border and in the Rockies could benefit the most as health, agriculture and energy costs are projected to improve. "Unmitigated climate change will be very expensive for huge regions of the United States," said Hsiang, Chancellor's Associate Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. "If we continue on the current path, our analysis indicates it may result in the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the country's history." The team of economists and climate scientists computed the real-world costs and benefits: how agriculture, crime, health, energy demand, labor and coastal communities will be affected by higher temperatures, changing rainfall, rising seas and intensifying hurricanes.

New Developments June 2017

Graphene electrodes offer new functionalities in molecular electronic nanodevices The field of nanoscale molecular electronics aims to exploit individual molecules as the building blocks for electronic devices, to improve functionality and enable developers to achieve an unprecedented level of device miniaturization and control. The main obstacle hindering progress in this field is the absence of stable contacts between the molecules and metals used that can both operate at room temperature and provide reproducible results. Graphene possesses not only excellent mechanical stability, but also exceptionally high electronic and thermal conductive properties, making the emerging 2D material very attractive for a range of possible applications in molecular electronics. "We find that by carefully designing the chemical contact of molecules to graphene-based materials, we can tune their functionality," said Dr Rungger. "Our single-molecule diodes showed that the rectification direction of electric current can be indeed switched by changing the nature of chemical contact of each molecule," added Dr Rudnev. The findings will also help researchers working in electro-catalysis and energy conversion research design graphene/molecule interfaces in their experimental systems to improve the efficiency of the catalyst or device.

New Developments May 2017

Discovery of a facile process for hydrogen production using ammonia as a carrier However, low volumetric energy density and the dangers of transporting and handling H2 are drawbacks for commercial applications. These problems could be eliminated by using ammonia as a H2 storage medium (H2 carrier). They found that H2 can be produced by supplying ammonia and oxygen at room temperature to a pre-treated RuO2/?-Al2O3 catalyst without external heating. The heat evolves by ammonia adsorption onto this catalyst, increasing it to the catalytic auto-ignition temperature of ammonia. Subsequently, production of H2 by oxidative decomposition of ammonia begins. In this process, once the reaction is initiated, it can start again repeatedly even if there is no external heat supply because adsorbed ammonia is desorbed during the reaction.

Japan’s Largest Solar Power Plant Breaks Ground Tokyo-based solar project developer, Pacifico Energy has announced the construction plan for Japan’s largest solar power plant with a capacity of up to 257.7MW in Mimasaka-Shi City, Okayama Prefecture. The solar power plant is scheduled to become operational in September 2019. Covering a land of approximately 400 hectares, the solar power plant is planned to be completed within 30 months. 150MWdc from the whole 257.7MWac solar panels will be connected to the grid and all electricity generated will be sold to Chugoku electric Power Company. Pacifico Energy expected that Sakuto Mega Solar Power Station will generate approximately 290,000,000kWh of solar electricity per year, offsetting around 200 thousand tons of GHG emissions.

New Developments April 2017

Energy-efficiency labels for buildings are working Energy-efficiency labels have brought energy savings of up to 30 percent in large commercial buildings in Los Angeles. Buildings account for about one-third of the energy consumption and carbon emissions in the US. Three major certification programs attempt to reduce building emissions: the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Program, the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Challenge. the Energy Star program is the most successful voluntary energy-efficiency program in the world. It has saved consumers and businesses $34 billion in electricity costs and prevented more than about 300 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in one year.

Non-participating buildings tend to be smaller, older, and in less premium locations, but they are greater in number and represent two-thirds of commercial building emissions.

Efficient power converter for internet of things The "internet of things" is the idea that vehicles, appliances, civil structures, manufacturing equipment, and even livestock will soon have sensors that report information directly to networked servers, aiding with maintenance and the coordination of tasks. Those sensors will have to operate at very low powers, in order to extend battery life for months or make do with energy harvested from the environment. Those operations require relatively little current, but occasionally, the sensor might need to transmit an alert to a distant radio receiver. That requires much larger currents. researchers from MIT's Microsystems Technologies Laboratories (MTL) presented a new power converter that maintains its efficiency at currents ranging from 500 picoamps to 1 milliamp, a span that encompasses a 200,000-fold increase in current levels.

Renewable energy needed to drive uptake of electric vehicles Plugging into renewable energy sources outweighs the cost and short driving ranges for consumers intending to buy electric vehicles, according to a new study. "We found the majority of participants placed great emphasis on the need for electricity for electric vehicles to be produced from renewable energy sources in order for them to be a true alternative," he said. "For example, a petrol-driven vehicle produces 119g CO2-e/km, of which most are on-road emissions. In comparison, an electric vehicle produces zero on-road emissions," he said. "However, if electricity is generated from coal to charge an electric vehicle it produces 139g CO2-e/km well-to-wheel emissions, compared with only 9g CO2-e/km well-to-wheel emissions with electricity from renewable energy sources." Australia - the transport sector accounted for 16 per cent of the country's greenhouse gas emissions and 85 per cent of these were generated by road transport.

New Developments March 2017

Research advances energy savings for oil, gas industries A Washington State University research team has improved an important catalytic reaction commonly used in the oil and gas industries. The innovation could lead to dramatic energy savings and reduced pollution. Methane also is a primary ingredient in natural gas used to heat homes, and it can be converted into many useful products including electricity. But breaking the strong bond between its carbon and hydrogen takes a tremendous amount of energy. To convert methane, the oil and gas industry most often uses a nickel-based catalyst. But it is often less expensive to simply burn the methane in giant flares on site; however, this adds greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming, and wastes energy. In the U.S., for example, the amount of methane burned annually is as much as 25 percent of the country's natural gas consumption. The researchers determined that they can dramatically reduce the energy needed to break the bond between carbon and hydrogen by adding a tiny bit of carbon within the nickel-based catalyst. This creates nickel carbide, which generates a positive electrical field. This novel catalyst weakens the methane molecule's hydrogen-carbon bond, allowing it to break at much lower temperatures.

A city’s solar potential depends on the length of its road network This is because the formation of the road network defines the spaces that can be filled by buildings. And the resulting arrangement of buildings influences the amount of sunlight each building receives.

New Developments February 2017

Surge in methane emissions threatens efforts to slow climate change

To save energy on heating and cooling, look at the shape of cities, not just their buildings  In North America and Europe, the greatest gains are likely to come from improving energy efficiency of buildings, especially retrofit of existing buildings. Efficiency gains matter relatively more in those regions that are already highly urban,” the researchers write. That’s because where cities are well established, their general form—compact or sprawling—is already set. Surprisingly, though, retrofitting buildings immediately doesn’t necessarily produce the greatest savings. Current technologies widely available for energy retrofits can save 20 to 40 percent of building energy use. But cutting-edge technologies could save 70 to 90 percent. Waiting five years or so for those new technologies to go mainstream and come down in cost could save more energy in the long term. And the picture is different in rapidly urbanizing regions like China, South Asia, Pacific Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. There, changes in urban density will have the biggest effect on building energy use.

New Developments January 2017

Off-grid power in remote areas will require special business model to succeed More than 1.2 billion people lack access to basic electricity service. The majority of those people are living in developing nations, in rural or isolated areas with high rates of poverty. Steep costs and remote terrain often make it impractical or even impossible to extend the electric grid.

Turning up the thermostat could help tropical climates cool down The best cognitive performance, as indicated by task speed, was recorded at 26°C; at 29°C, the availability of an occupant-controlled fan partially mitigated the negative effect of the elevated temperature. In the United States, about 75 percent of electricity is used in buildings. Meanwhile, in the U.S. and worldwide, air conditioning accounts for 40 percent of total energy use and relative greenhouse gas emissions. The tests used smart, energy-efficient desk fans that run on more efficient, direct-current (DC) motors using between 3 and 17 watts, rather than alternative-current (AC) motors that use around 100 watts.